The table below provides information on the production of products in two countries. Use the law of comparative advantage to choose the statement that describes the products that each country will export to the other country.

Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) Buses
Country A 500 1000
Country B 450 1350


(1 point)
Responses

Country A exports buses and Country B exports LRVs.
Country A exports buses and Country B exports LRVs.

Country A exports buses and Country B exports buses.
Country A exports buses and Country B exports buses.

Country A exports LRVs and Country B exports buses.
Country A exports LRVs and Country B exports buses.

Country A exports LRVs and Country B exports LRVs

1 answer

To determine which products each country will export based on the law of comparative advantage, we need to calculate the opportunity cost of producing each product in each country.

First, we calculate the opportunity cost of producing LRVs and buses in both countries.

Country A:

  • To produce 1 LRV, Country A gives up \( \frac{1000 \text{ buses}}{500 \text{ LRVs}} = 2 \text{ buses per LRV} \).
  • To produce 1 bus, Country A gives up \( \frac{500 \text{ LRVs}}{1000 \text{ buses}} = 0.5 \text{ LRVs per bus} \).

Country B:

  • To produce 1 LRV, Country B gives up \( \frac{1350 \text{ buses}}{450 \text{ LRVs}} = 3 \text{ buses per LRV} \).
  • To produce 1 bus, Country B gives up \( \frac{450 \text{ LRVs}}{1350 \text{ buses}} = 0.333 \text{ LRVs per bus} \).

Comparative Advantage:

  • Buses:

    • Opportunity cost in Country A: 0.5 LRVs per bus.
    • Opportunity cost in Country B: 0.333 LRVs per bus.
    • Country B has the lower opportunity cost for producing buses.
  • LRVs:

    • Opportunity cost in Country A: 2 buses per LRV.
    • Opportunity cost in Country B: 3 buses per LRV.
    • Country A has the lower opportunity cost for producing LRVs.

Conclusion:

  • Country A will export LRVs (since it has a comparative advantage in LRVs).
  • Country B will export buses (since it has a comparative advantage in buses).

Thus, the correct statement is:

Country A exports LRVs and Country B exports buses.